


questions, preferences and choices

by siryamsalot



Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabbles, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siryamsalot/pseuds/siryamsalot
Summary: some little scenes about Delilah and her brothers, their newfound freedom, and a bit about how scary that can be.
Relationships: Delilah & Angela (gargoyles), Delilah & Elisa (Gargoyles), Delilah & Hudson (gargoyles), Delilah & Maggie (gargoyles), Delilah & Malibu (gargoyles)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	questions, preferences and choices

**Author's Note:**

> cw for implied abuse bc _Thailog,_ and a bit of off camera violence in one scene. also referenced animal death (no detail, just some dumb lads reminiscing on eating rats) and some hurt/comforty stuff in one scene. it's mostly fluff, honestly.

Delilah stared at the wall in the room she and her clan had been left in. A numbness had set into her, crawling over every inch of her skin.  
Master Thailog was gone.  
She didn’t know what to do now. The chains were gone, and her clanmates weren’t tied up, but without any orders from master Thailog, none of them were sure what to make of their situation.  
She sat quietly in the corner of the room. playing with the tip of her tail, bending it back and forth in her hands. 

The door opened. And the creature from before, the furry gargoyle with the strange eyes, stepped in. Behind him was a similarly fluffy creature, but smaller, coloured more like Delilah, and with a mane of hair.  
“Hello!” the small one said, and her voice was high like Angela’s, but bumpier.

Delilah dropped her tail and stood up slowly. 

“This is Maggie.” The big dark not-quite-gargoyle said. “she lives around here too.”

“hello.” Delilah’s voice was soft. 

“Maggie, this is Delilah, Hollywood, uh...” he trailed off. 

“Brentwood!” her clanmate announced, as he was the next one gestured to. 

“Right! Brentwood. And you two?”

“Malibu!”

“Burbank!”

“good, good! We’re all introduced then. Oh,” he grinned a sheepish look that showed his teeth, “you can call me Talon, or Derek, whichever you prefer.”

Delilah waved her tail. Prefer? Master Thailog had preferences. She did not. She frowned softly. She wouldn’t know which to call him. Was the one he said first his preference?

“we brought you some things for your room here. Sorry that we don’t have more room.” Maggie said. the dark one dragged what looked like a giant, firm pillow into the room.  
He pushed it to the corner and Maggie threw a blanket over it.  
“I know you guys don’t sleep the same way we do, but we had a spare and I figured a mattress would be nice for relaxing on, at least.” He said. 

“Thank you, master.” Delilah said softly, running a hand over the mattress. 

His body tensed. “e-er, y-you don’t need to call me that!”

Delilah felt cold fear break through her body’s numbness. “I’m sorry m-, er, T-t, D-...”

“Talon. Talon's fine.”

“I’m sorry, T-Talon.”

“its alright.” He still seemed tense, but he didn’t move towards her. “its uh, it’s almost sunrise, so we’ll go ahead and leave you guys to sleep. It’s been a long day, I’m sure.”

“We’ll be back after sunset.” Maggie said. “I’d, uh…” she waved Talon away through the door. “I’d like to show you around. Would you like that?”

“If you wish.” Delilah said. 

Delilah couldn’t place the look in Maggie’s eyes when she left. It was soft and gentle but not happy. It was a look she’d never seen on Thailog, but it was familiar somehow. 

~~~~

“Angela?”

Angela looked up from the game the labyrinthian child had been teaching her and the boys.  
“Maggie.” She flashed a friendly smile despite how sunken she was feeling. “what is it?”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you.” Maggie’s golden eyes flitted around. 

“Oh? Alright.” Angela gave Brooklyn a confused look, and he shrugged.

“ya alright, Mags?” he asked.

“its nothing to worry about.” Maggie smiled at him.

Angela stood and walked with Maggie, idly waving goodbye to Brooklyn and the child as she left. Brooklyn’s brows were pinched in a gentle frown, but he didn’t press. 

“I’m sorry if this is strange, I know we don’t really know each other well,” Maggie began. 

“It’s quite alright.” Angela just found herself curious more than anything.

“I just, uh. Wanted to ask you about... the new members of our clan.”

“The clones?” Angela felt the unease come back. Just thinking about anything within the general brain-vicinity of what those gargoyles had gone through made her lose her appetite. 

“Yeah. I guess especially Delilah.”  
They stopped. The tunnel was empty, letting the pause hang in the silence. 

Angela frowned. Delilah. She’d been on Angela’s mind almost as much as Demona, since it all happened. 

“You met them, right? And, uh, fought them?”

“Yes.” Angela shifted her weight and waved her tail. “to be honest, I’m kind of worried about them.”

“me too.” Maggie said softly. “I’m not sure exactly what happened, I wasn’t there, but the way Delilah talks...”

Angela sighed and combed her claws through her hair. “its as bad as it sounds.” She said. “Thailog made them all to be minions, except for her. He said he made her to be 'obedient...’ and 'lovely.’” She felt her gut churn and her face twist in disgust at the words. 

Maggie frowned and bared her teeth, face twisting in a shocking display of contempt as her eyes shot to the side. “that’s what I was worried about.” Her words came out a growl. 

Angela didn’t know Maggie well, but she’d never seen her look so mad. 

“Derek said he probably had them all for around five months or something, right?” Maggie asked, glancing back to Angela. 

“that sounds about right.” Angela said slowly.

Maggie glared at her feet. “I don’t know if it’s better they weren’t with him too long or terrible because they haven’t even existed for more than a few months.” She balled her hands into fists. “it must be so... frightening.” She said softly. 

“Yeah...”  
Angela’s head danced with snippets of stories Katherine had recounted, of her trials with suitors and pursuers. Angela remembered Sevarius' hand on her chin and the uncomfortable, disgusting warmth it left on her skin. And still, she couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel like if that was your entire life. If you didn’t have the will to retract, to growl, to escape.  
“...it makes me angry.” She bared her teeth again.

“Me too.” Maggie’s voice was strong, if only for a moment before falling into softness again. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“I wish I could rip that filthy rat's tail off and slap him with it.”

Maggie snorted a laugh, but the mood fell back down like lead. 

Angela smiled at her despite that. “you can help, you know. Delilah, all of them, they could use someone kind.” She’d heard lots about Maggie’s gentleness. If she was at all like Brooklyn and Elisa described her, she would be good for Delilah. 

Maggie smiled at her, soft gentle smile pressing at her eyes. “I can try... I hope it’s enough.”

“it just needs to be enough to teach them they deserve better than they’ve gotten.”

She smiled only briefly before glancing away from the eye contact. “are, um, what about you? I’m sure it’d be nice for them to have a gargoyle friend.”

Angela looked back to her feet and frowned. “I don’t know...” she thought back to the fight, the desperation in Delilah’s every movement, the look in her eyes when Thailog—and Demona—fell to the fire. “I was the one who fought her, and stopped her from saving Thailog. I don’t know if she’d understand my reasoning enough to not hate me.”

“oh.” Maggie paused, and then laid a hand on Angela’s shoulder, startling her out of her funk. “that’s alright! I’m sure one day you can be friends. I’ll take care of her for now.”

Angela smiled as her worries briefly melted under Maggie’s glow. “thanks Maggie.”

~~~~

“and here’s the kitchen.” Maggie gestured to a doorway. “that’s where you can come to get food, anytime you’re hungry.” 

Delilah tilted her head, inhaling a delicious scent. She wondered how much she was allowed to eat. She wondered what was cooking. But she didn’t ask, instead she just let her eyes trace the closed door as the tour moved on.  
Her brothers trailed after them, their eyes flitting around the tunnels.  
The next place Maggie showed them was where the trains went through.  
She explained that trains were dangerous, and not to go on the tracks. Delilah wondered what the trains did, besides pose a hazard to labyrinthians.  
She didn’t ask, but Maggie talked anyway, and Delilah listened intently. 

“the trains are part of the subway. It can get you almost anywhere in the city. Well, as long as you blend in.” Her ears pushed back with her sheepish smile. 

Delilah tilted her head. Blend in? With what? The train? The people on the train?  
Master Thailog had said not to let humans see them. Perhaps that’s because they don’t blend in.  
Maggie showed them the way to her own sleeping chamber.  
“if you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to swing by, okay?”

Delilah nodded. “thank you.” She wasn’t sure what they might need, but she was happy to have some instructions. Something to do if she wasn’t sure what to do. 

Maggie brought Delilah and her clan back to their room, pointing out the exits on the way by. 

Delilah sat on the mattress and stretched. She was tired. she’d been tired since she woke up. Malibu crawled up onto the bed and laid down beside her. Delilah gently patted his head, and he closed his eyes. She smiled. It was nice to see someone happy. 

“what we do now?” Brentwood said quietly, from where he sat perched on Hollywood’s shoulders. 

“...don’t know.” Hollywood said. “Talon said no master.”

“I don’t know either.” Delilah said. She hated it. She felt paralyzed.

“Malibu lay on soft.” Malibu said. 

Delilah tilted her head at him, unsure of what that meant.

There was a gentle knock on the door, but it startled the group anyway.  
Delilah stood and walked over, opening the door. On the other side was one of the gargoyles they’d fought the night master Thailog fell to the fire. 

“Hello, lass. I’m sorry to come unannounced, but I wanted to visit ya.”

Delilah was confused, but she opened the door and stepped back to let him in. With him, he brought a box.  
“You wanted to visit...? Why?”

He set them down on the floor. “well, the boys aren’t ready to welcome you yet, so I might as well do it. Hello, Brentwood, Malibu. Hollywood, Burbank.” He smiled at the group. 

Delilah smiled back almost reflexively.

“hello!” Malibu said, sitting up. 

Delilah tilted her head, considering how to remedy her confusion without being rude. “Is there something you wanted?” she asked.

“just to chat, properly be introduced. My name’s Hudson. I brought you some of our games.” He patted the box. 

Delilah tilted her head and leaned forward to peek at the box. “games?”  
The others slipped off the bed to peer at the box.  
“aye, I can teach you how to play, if you like.”

Delilah tilted her head at the box, narrowing her eyes at the strange pattern of squares on it. “I... would like that.” She said. 

He sat on the floor with them and he pulled a square board out of the box. It was covered in the same alternating squares as the front of the box. Then he started lining up coloured coin-shaped pieces on the grid. 

“this game’s called 'checkers.’ You play by moving these pieces around. Who wants to play first, while I explain the rules?”

They all looked at each other. “no... want.” Brentwood said. “only do what told.”

Hudson tilted his head. “would you be happy if you played, lad?”

“...happy...” he frowned. “happy like... When food? Or pat?”

“Sure.” Hudson said. 

“... don’t know. Never played.”

Hudson chuckled. “alright, fair ‘nuff. How about you, lass?”

Delilah nodded. “I will play.” She wasn’t exactly sure what playing entailed, but she was curious, and he smiled at her when she said it. 

“Alright, so you can move these pieces, the blue ones,” he tapped his claw on one piece nearer her, “and I move the red ones. We take turns.”  
He explained through the rules of the game. Everything moved diagonally, and you would win by jumping over all of your opponent’s pieces and 'capturing' them.

“You can move one piece a turn, but it can be any 'o yours.” He moved one of his red pieces one square. “Your turn.”

She frowned at the board. Any piece of hers. It was a little overwhelming. “how... do I choose?” she asked quietly. 

“The first move usually doesn’t matter so much.” He said. “and a game doesn’t have any real stakes. Life keeps going, no matter what you move.”

She hovered her hand over the board, hesitated.

“I usually go randomly. First one my eyes land on.”

She hesitated more and then moved a piece. She looked up to Hudson to gauge her performance. 

He just smiled at her and slid another of his pieces. His smile was soft, nothing like master Thailog's toothy grin. It was more like Maggie’s. Delilah wasn’t sure if they meant the same thing as Thailog’s, but she supposed she would find out.

They traded moves and it was silent the first few. But then Burbank broke the silence. 

“what is blue?”

Hudson glanced up from the board, expression of gentle shock. “you don’t know your colours?” he paused. “I suppose that makes sense. Blue is, um... See this piece?” he gestured to one of Delilah's pieces.” What it has in common with say, Brentwood, is it’s colour.”

Everyone, including Brentwood, glanced between Brentwood and the piece. 

“Brentwood blue?” Brentwood said. 

“yes.” Hudson said. “and this piece is red, like yours eyes, or Delilah’s jacket.” 

Delilah glanced between her jacket and the piece. “yes, and Talon is 'black,' like Burbank’s hair, and my hair is 'white.’”

“Delilah know colour?” Malibu asked. 

“it was in my programming.” Delilah said. “I didn’t know it wasn’t in yours.”

“that’s great that you know some, lass. You can teach your brothers about colours. Do you know what colour you are?”

She paused. “ah... it isn’t... orange... or red...”

“you’re right.” He smiled. “it’s similar to those. You’re brown, like me.”

She smiled. “brown! Brown, brown.”

He laughed softly, breathy and quiet. “is it fun to say?”

“it’s a strange word.” She said.

“Hollywood brown too?” Hollywood asked. 

“yes, you are!” Hudson grinned. 

“brown!” he said. “brown fun to say! Brown, brown, brown.” 

~~~

Delilah and Malibu wandered through the tunnels of the labyrinth. The other three had stayed in the clan’s room, to play checkers, so only two sets of footfalls echoed off the damp walls. 

Delilah had to fight a creeping feeling in her stomach. Master Thailog never liked her to wander. He always wanted her nearby, just out of earshot but close enough to come when she was called. But master Thailog wasn’t here now, and there was no master to stay within calling range of.  
Free of that obligation, she tentatively satisfied the curiosity in her, every discovery gently and constantly coaxing her further through the tunnels. 

“hope next discovery not rats.” Malibu mused. 

“why? Do you not like rats?”

“rats taste bad.” 

Delilah laughed, a small, reserved laugh. “we don’t have eat them when we find them.”

“What else do?”

“Uh...” she wasn’t sure what else one could do with rats. “let them go maybe? I suppose we don’t even have to chase them.” 

There was a yelp from the chamber in front of them. It was full of humans.  
“oh! Y-you must be Delilah! You startled me.” One human said. She was a large lady, and she clutched her collarbone as she took a deep breath. 

“my apologies.” Delilah said, although she wasn’t sure why the woman was startled. They hadn’t been sneaking, and their approach was obvious. 

“Delilah!” a warm, familiar voice said. 

Delilah lit up at the voice. 

“and Malibu!”  
Maggie approached out of the crowd, reaching forward, hesitating, and then gently grabbing Delilah’s claw.  
“its good to see you two out and about.” She beamed a bright, Maggie smile. “what brings you out of your cave?”

“exploring!” Malibu said. “we discover things.”

“thats great! Oh, I should introduce you to Lily. She’s new around the labyrinth.” Maggie gestured to the big round lady. “we’ve told you about Delilah and her brothers, right Lily?”

“yes, you have. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lily smiled nervously. 

“ples... pleasure to meet!” Malibu said. 

“why can’t this young man use full sentences?” she said quietly to Maggie, unaware that gargoyle hearing is a bit better than human hearing. 

“they’re all only, uh, how old are you now, Malibu?”

“three!” he said proudly. 

“three months old.” Maggie said. 

Lily blinked, and her expression of shock appeared over several seconds. “’months?’”

“they were artificially aged in a test tube or something.” Maggie said. 

Lily paused another moment to gape and then stepped forward.  
“well, you kids should be careful, wandering the tunnels by yourselves!” she took Malibu and Delilah’s hands in turn.  
Delilah wavered, pinning her ears back and lowering her wings. “I-“

“it’s alright, Lily!” Maggie placated, “they’re technically full grown and actually pretty capable, combat wise.”

“’combat’?! They’re children! I live just down this tunnel, you two, don’t be afraid to come by if you need to, alright?” she was distracted by someone calling her name, “I’ve got to go now. Lovely meeting you.” She hurried away.

Delilah tilted her head, confused by the sudden urgency the woman moved and spoke with. She looked to Maggie.  
Maggie just smiled a tired, amused smile.  
“she’s a mom, so she’s apt to be like that.”

“how old Maggie?” Malibu asked. 

“oh. I’m, ah, twenty four now.” She said. “thats in years.”

“years. How old Malibu in years?”

“a quarter of a year.”

Malibu frowned slowly, and Delilah frowned quicker.

“yeah, I’m quite a bit older than you guys I guess.” Maggie laughed. “so how has the exploring been going?”

“it’s going alright.” Delilah smiled. “the labyrinth is big.”

“fun! Discover many tunnel. Not fun! Discover rats.”

“we discovered that rats taste bad.”

Maggie’s eyebrows frowned in concern while her mouth remained a wide smile. “thats great! You’re learning lots. D... um... rats are pretty dirty. They’re... not for eating.”

Delilah tapped her fingers together to expend her tense energy. “a-are we not allowed to eat rats?” Maggie was kind, and not her master, but Delilah's stomach still sank at the thought of disappointing her like she’d disappoint her master. 

“no, no, it’s...” Maggie started, and then paused. “ah. Um. Listen-“

“ah, exactly the ones I was lookin' for.” A familiar voice interrupted her. 

“oh, Hudson!” Maggie smiled at him, still tense. 

“Delilah, Malibu, Maggie.” He greeted. His eyes settled on Maggie and he tilted his head back. “somethin’ bothering you, lass? You look tense.”

“uh.” Maggie’s ears laid back. “I, uh. How does one... uh... explain why you shouldn’t eat rats...?”

Hudson glanced between Maggie and the clones, and Delilah and Malibu shrunk back in guilt. Malibu was crouched, half hiding behind her.

He laughed, but it was a soft, genuine laugh, much unlike master Thailog's. He patted Maggie’s hand. 

“It’s alright, you two, you’re not in trouble.” He said, smile warm and amused. 

Delilah shifted. “we’re not...?”

“of course not.” Hudson said. “ya didn’t know any better. Every hatchling tries to eat rats at some point.”

“they do?” Maggie frowned at him. 

“anyways, I’m sure they tasted awful.”

Delilah hesitated and then nodded. 

“they can also make you sick, ya know. Especially if you eat em.”

Curiosity and nervousness clashed in her. “...sick...?” she asked hesitantly. 

“yes, sick. I suppose you haven’t been sick before. It’s when a little creature, so small you can’t see it, gets inside ya and tries to ruin your life. Makes ya ache in ways you didn’t know you could. Stronger ones can kill ya.”

Delilah and Malibu’s eyes widened. 

“I don’t think I want to be sick.” Delilah said weakly. 

“aye, me neither. Myself, I avoid it by not putting dirty things in my mouth.”

“I will do that too.” Delilah nodded. If it worked for him, it probably worked well.

“yes. No put dirty thing in mouth.” Malibu said. “and tell brothers.”

“yes, we should.” Delilah said. She didn’t want her brothers sick. 

“thats a good idea.” Hudson grinned. “you two are getting very clever.”

Delilah smiled. Clever. She was getting better at making decisions. Getting smarter. 

“thanks, Hudson.” Maggie said. 

“of course.” He patted her shoulder.

“Maggie!” Talon's voice echoed. 

“oh! Just a second, Derek!” Maggie called. “is there something you wanted, Hudson?”

“I came to talk to the clones.” Hudson said. 

“alright. I’ve gotta go.” She shifted, and then glanced to Delilah. “it was good to see you. I hope the rest of your night goes well.” She smiled. “see you around.”

“a-ah, yes, goodbye. I... I hope your night is happy.” Delilah returned the smile, feeling a warmth in her. Maggie wasn’t disappointed. She was still her warm self. 

Maggie’s smile changed a little at that, shifting to somehow be even softer. “thank you.” She said, before running off down the tunnels. 

Delilah watched after her a moment, and then turned to Hudson. “what is it you wanted?”

“well, I was hoping to introduce you to someone.” He said. “I looked for you in your room, and the lads told me you were 'exploring.’”

“yes. We explore tunnels.” Malibu said. 

Delilah wondered who he wanted to introduce them to. One of his clan?

“would you like to come back to your room to meet her?”

Delilah waved her tail.

“Malibu want meet!” Malibu said. 

“you do?” Delilah glanced at him. 

“yes! Malibu like new friends!”

Delilah smiled, tension easing out of her. “you have a point. We will go, then.”

The walk back to her and her brothers' room wasn’t as long as the journey here. It wasn’t quiet either, but Hudson had little time to explain more than that the person they were meeting was a member of his clan, and Delilah's other genetic source. 

They opened the door to find the human already inside, talking with Delilah's brothers. 

She looked up. “Hudson! About time.” She grinned. 

“aye, it was quite a wander. This is Malibu,” he gestured, “and this is Delilah.”

Delilah shifted into the room, and the human’s vision fell on her.  
Her face softened, falling from a playful grin to something almost not a smile.  
Her skin was brown like Delilah's, and her eyes and hair were dark.  
“Delilah.” Her voice was soft, and it almost sounded like Delilah speaking to herself. “I, uh, It’s nice to finally meet you. My name’s Elisa! Elisa Maza.” She offered a hand. 

Delilah paused and then took it gently in her claw. “its nice to meet you too.”

Hudson moved behind her, idly picking up checker pieces that had scattered at some point.

“wow.” Elisa breathed. “sorry, I’m just. You really do look like me.” She grinned. “I’m new to this clone thing.”

Delilah laughed a little and shifted her weight. “you sound like me.”

Elisa grinned at her. “likewise.”

~~~

Delilah wandered the castle corridors with the new human, away from the crowd of the party. She had fun at first, relaxing with Brooklyn and his brothers, but the noise got too much. She was used to the relative quiet of the labyrinth.  
Brooklyn and Goliath had arrived at the labyrinth to check in, and Brooklyn had asked her to come to the party. He was friendly, his smile like Malibu’s, so she felt comfortable going with him. Maggie and Elisa said to never go with someone who made her uncomfortable. 

Yes, she didn’t mind Brooklyn, and she might find her way back to the party after this. But for now, she wandered in the quiet, the only conversation audible the one between her and her guide. 

“and what about this door?” she poked a finger at another large, metal door. 

“behind that is the kitchen, but it’s in use right now. We best not disrupt the chefs.” Owen Burnett said. 

“I know kitchens, but what does a chef do?”

“chefs are paid to cook food. they're usually very good at it, since it's their job.”

Delilah grinned. He’d showed her several rooms, and explained many tapestries. Since they’d come across each other and started walking together, he’d answered every single question she posed. With each question she grew bolder and more curious, asking about something from his explanation, which lead to more questions and more delightful answers.  
He never seemed to get tired of it.  
She saw a window further down the corridor, and her heart leapt at the new discovery. She sprinted down to it and paused to look out. It was a window on the outside of the castle, so instead of a view of the baily (that’s what Owen said the grassy place inside the walls was called) it looked out over the city.  
Thousands of twinkling lights matched the excited shine in her eyes. 

“its quite a view, isn’t it?” he said. His voice was gentle. 

“its beautiful.” She grinned. “is this the tallest tower?”

“the eyrie building is the tallest in the city, yes. This isn’t the highest point of the castle, though. That would be Goliath’s perch.”

She leaned on the cold stone of the windowsill and let her eyes wander over the buildings and down the streets. 

“whats that?” she pointed to a short building with colourful lights in the window. 

“A store, it looks like. Where people buy things.”

“and that?” she pointed to a different tower, tall and uniform and square.

“an office building, most likely. They’re rented out to businesses, and inside people to busywork with computers and paperwork and filing cabinets.”

“have you been in an office building?”

His lip twitched in a ghost of a smile at the question. “many times, yes.”

Satisfied with the answer, she looked back out over the city.  
“what’s that?” she pointed to a tall building in ruins, with a hole through the top. 

“the clocktower. It used to be the Manhattan clan’s roost, but it was destroyed by gargoyle hunters. That’s why they’re living at the castle now.”

She frowned. Destroyed? It looked like someone had put a bomb in it. “gargoyle hunters?” Maggie had been warning her to stay underground and avoid strangers, lately. 

“the Hunters. We believe two of them were neutralized. The quarrymen, however, are still out there making the city dangerous.”

Delilah sighed. “I guess it’s not a good time to be a gargoyle...” 

“...I’m afraid it rarely is.”

“you don’t think they’d care that I’m part human, do you?”

“probably not.”  
A buzzing ring interrupted the following pause.  
He pulled a little, rectangular device out of his chest pocket and lifted it to his ear. Delilah watched him, perplexed, as he listened to a tiny buzzy noise from the thing and spoke into it, saying “I’ll be up in a moment, get to the battlements; whichever are closest to Goliath, but stay hidden and don’t engage.”  
He tucked it away again. 

Delilah opened her mouth to ask questions, but he spoke before her.  
“my apologies, Delilah, something urgent has come up. Feel free to explore on your own, if you wish, but I ask you be mindful of the staff.”

Delilah nodded. “of course.”

After he left, she found herself wishing she’d thanked him, but he left too quickly for her to rectify the mistake.  
She turned her eyes back to the hallway, and after a deep breath, and running his words through her head again, she started back down the hall.  
She wished her brothers were here to explore with her. She felt that they would like Owen. 

~~~

“Delilah, don’t listen to him!” Angela’s voice was laced with urgency, but Delilah didn’t look away from Thailog. 

“Is that an order, Angela? Or am I truly free to make my own choices?” she said bitterly.

Angela didn’t respond.

It was a rush. A rush to not be punished for baring her teeth. The curl of her lip seemed to ease her tension. 

~~~

“Delilah!”  
the familiar voice that came from overhead registered in Delilah’s adrenaline-clouded head.  
Angela dropped down from her flight to land on the field, her clan following her.

“Delilah, are you alright?!” her voice was laced with urgency, and Delilah looked to her eyes this time. Wide eyes, awaiting reply, body tensed and ready for combat. 

Delilah couldn’t find speech.

“she’s just in a little trouble, sis,” Thailog hissed. “Nothing that won’t blow over.”

“I didn’t ask you, you sick bastard!” she snarled at him. “Delilah.” Her voice softened again, not like a soft blanket but like soft flesh revealed from under a shell.

Delilah held her bloodied arm and glared at Thailog, who was now being circled by the Manhattan clan. Her legs and wings ached from being thrown against boulders.  
He’d caught her out on her own at night, and dragged her to a remote island on the Hudson to ‘talk.’  
She was thoroughly uninterested in talking to him.  
“I won’t go back to you, Thailog.” She said as firmly as she could. It took physical effort to not say 'master,' but the resulting look on his face was worth it.  
He scowled and bared his teeth, and Delilah felt a swirling mix of pride and fear. 

The others took that as a prompt to dive at him. he shook them off.  
“I'm afraid I can’t allow that, love.”

“Why do you even want her back?” the little one, Lexington, said as he leapt back onto Thailog’s back. “minions that hate you are probably worse than no minions.”  
He dug his claws into the membrane of Thailog’s wing, shredding it as Thailog ripped him off.

Thailog howled, and then it faded to a snarl.  
“She won’t hate me for long. Those programming pods are very effective.” He tossed Lexington away. “and what is with you people and ripping my wings?! Is it some kind of sick in-joke?!”

Delilah's skin went cold and her head clouded again with panic. The rest dogpiled again, newfound aim for the already-vulnerable spot on his wing.  
“we’ve gottem, Angela!” Brooklyn called to her over Thailog’s roar. “Get Delilah to safety!”

Angela darted over to Delilah and laid a claw on her shoulder. “he’s after you and they’re destroying his wing, if we can get you far enough away he’ll have nothing to gain from this and leave.”

“A-alright, let’s go.”

At that Angela scooped Delilah up and spread her wings, running to the cliff and leaping onto the breeze.

Delilah tried to move her head, commanded her eyes to close or move from the continuing battle, but her body didn’t seem to listen.  
Angela laid a hand on Delilah's head and brought it to rest against Angela’s chest.  
Now over water and drifting from the little island, Delilah felt feeling slowly creep back into her. 

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” Angela said softly.  
She landed on the shore and wrapped her wings around Delilah as she crept into an open sewage pipe.  
“When we heard that Thailog--, I-I was afraid he--...”  
She didn’t finish her thought; instead she pulled Delilah closer and adjusted her wings.  
The adrenaline had seemed to dissipate by now, it’s only leftovers being shaky hands and blurry vision. Loudest in Delilah's mind was her own breath, the beating of Angela’s heart, warm wings around her.  
“...why?” she asked softly. 

“wh... what?”

“Why do you... worry about me?”  
She’d done nothing but resist Angela. She fought her. She was rude to her, she refused to listen to her.  
And yet Angela’s voice shook, her claws were warm and gentle. 

Angela paused before replying. “I’m... not sure. I guess... You’re like a sister, right?”

Delilah frowned gently. 

“Not even just biologically. You and your clan are like... Rookery children of our clan. That makes you my little sister.”

Delilah smiled and laughed softly, if only to stop herself from crying. She wasn’t sure why she’d cry, but she felt like she would.  
she buried her face against Angela, basking in the warmth it spread through her numb, aching body. “I think I’d like to have a sister.”

~~~~~

Delilah rested on the mattress, flipping through one of the picture books that Elisa had brought her. She was happy to learn new things, and these books taught her colours, animals, and other things Thailog hadn’t deemed important for Delilah to know. 

Malibu was using their craft scissors to cut Burbank's beard, and Hollywood was leaning on the mattress, looking over Delilah’s shoulder. 

He pointed to the pig. “pink.”

“yes, a pink pig.” Delilah said. She flipped the page and looked over the colours. “red, blue, yellow.” She pointed to them. 

“pig.” Hollywood pointed. 

“the word here isn’t the same as pig.” Delilah said. She frowned at it. “’cee,' 'ay,' 'tee.’ That’s what those letters are called.”

“Burbank still.” Malibu said. 

“Burbank trying to still.” Burbank said. 

There was a knock at the door, and they all looked up. Malibu set down the scissors and crawled to the door, opening it up.  
“hello!” he said. 

“oh, hi.” The voice was familiar; high, soft and smooth. 

“Angela!” Delilah pushed herself up and pranced over. “hi!”

Angela smiled, face lighting up. “Delilah! I’m sorry for dropping by unannounced. Hudson told me where your room is. Can I come in?”

“sure.” Delilah said. “we were practicing reading.”

Angela stepped in, glancing around the room. Checker pieces were scattered in a heap in the corner, with the board. The box was in a different corner, half chewed up. (Delilah had discovered that cardboard tastes bad.) the pile of books was on the mattress, and Burbank sat in the middle, against a wall.  
Malibu trotted back over to him and picked up the scissors again. 

“you remember my brothers, right?” Delilah said. 

“yep! Hollywood, Burbank and Malibu, right?” she said. Her eyes lingered on Malibu’s work. 

“yes.” Delilah said. “brothers, this is Angela. She’s my sister.” She smiled. 

“Angela!” Hollywood said. “pretty name! Angela. Good word.”

Angela smiled. “thank you!”  
She cast another glance at Malibu. “u-um. What are you two up to?”

“no beard.” Burbank said. 

“Burbank say beard itchy.” Malibu said. “we get rid of itchy. But get rid not easy.”

Angela suppressed a huffed laugh and tilted her head. “I can help, if you like.”

Delilah looked up from where she sat with her books. “but... but I’d like you to read with me.”

Angela looked over, face blank with surprised. “oh. Oh, that’s okay, I can do both! Here, why don’t we cut the beard by the bed, so I can see the book too.”

They shifted around, and Angela sat on the edge of the bed, holding the scissors with more grace than Malibu had. She trimmed the beard down close to his face.  
“I’m not sure this’ll be less itchy, but maybe less hot.” She said. 

“what is this?” Delilah asked, tapping the non-pig again.

Angela glanced down. “a cat. Elisa has one, they’re very cute.”

“cat.” Delilah said. “’cee’ 'ay' 'tee.’”

“cat.” Hollywood said. 

They flipped the page. 

He pointed. “brown!”

“brown!” Delilah echoed. 

Angela glanced down again. “brown?”

“it’s a good colour.” Delilah said. “a good word too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I figured I might as well post them bc they're never gonna be more coherent than a bunch of drabbles. I might add more though.  
> also sorry about the singular perspective shift lmao, it's my fanfiction and I'll change perspective for only one scene if I want to, my god is dead


End file.
